How do you ensure long-term retention of pharmacists?
Pharmacists are important in the healthcare system as they play a pivotal role in improving the quality of healthcare by ensuring safe and effective usage of medications. They not only dispense medicines but also contribute to health education, dosage optimization, and medication adherence. They are essential collaborators for patients and other healthcare professionals in the healthcare ecosystem. As pharmacists have specialized training in pharmacotherapy and drug intervention, they support physicians in optimizing the medicine regimen by considering the patient’s medical history and the drug’s side effects. This reduces the chances of hospital readmissions and saves money for the facility. Thus, they help strengthen the health system by providing optimized medications, health screenings, immunization, and chronic disease management while minimizing the occurrence of adverse drug events.
Though the role of a pharmacist in the healthcare sector is crucial, there is a significant shortage of pharmacists in the USA, especially in the rural and underserved regions. American Pharmacists Association reports that the average rate of pharmacist turnover is 11% in the USA. However, with the aging population and prevalence of chronic diseases, there is a huge demand for pharmacists in the USA. Also, the number of pharmacists looking for a career change is increasing. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 44.2% of health workers reported being likely or very likely to look for a new job in 2022. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that the demand for pharmacists will increase by 5%. Various factors affect this increasing shortage of pharmacists in the USA. In this blog, we will discuss these factors and the strategies that facilities can adopt to retain pharmacists.
Pharmacist job projections till 2032
Source: Data USA
Factors contributing to pharmacist turnover
- Long shifts and heavy workloads: The existing staff shortage can lead to the current pharmacists in the healthcare facilities working longer shifts due to improper scheduling. This can impose a huge workload upon them, leading to burnout. According to a report by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of US healthcare professionals reporting burnout has increased from 32% in 2018 to 46% in 2022.
- Limited career advancement opportunities: When facilities do not support continuing education, pharmacists feel stagnant in their roles. With the evolving healthcare landscape, pharmacists need to upskill themselves to stay on top of the industry. However, when proper support from the facility for upskilling is not provided, and career progression is limited, pharmacists tend to leave the role due to job dissatisfaction.
- Incompetent compensation package: As there is a huge demand for pharmacists in the USA, healthcare facilities are offering competitive compensation and benefits packages to recruit the top talented pharmacists in their facilities.
As per the BLS, the average annual pay of pharmacists is $136,030. If facilities do not offer good salary and benefits packages, the dissatisfied workforce leads to a huge turnover rate.
- Poor work culture: Nobody wishes to stay in a work environment that is toxic and has poor organizational culture. Poor work culture can include a non-supportive work environment, non-flexibility in work, and less focus on employee wellbeing that causes work–life balance issues.
- Geographic disparities: There are geographic disparities that cause staff turnover. The average salary that a skilled pharmacist gets in a metropolitan area is greater than in rural areas. Moreover, living conditions also change with the geographic disparities. Hence, there is an increased shortage of pharmacists in the rural populations.
- Regulatory challenges: Regulatory guidelines vary from state to state. When there are stringent regulatory guidelines pertaining to the pharmacist’s job role, this can also cause pharmacist turnover.
Strategies for enhancing pharmacists’ retention
According to the Society of Human Resource Management, the cost of each turnover is equal to one-third of the individual’s annual salary. Healthcare facilities will have to spend more money on sourcing candidates, interviewing them, credentialing, onboarding, and training them when a new pharmacist is hired. Hence, the most cost-effective and efficient pharmacist hiring strategy would be to enhance pharmacist retention by implementing effective strategies. The following are some strategies that can help you reduce the turnover rate in your facility while maintaining organizational efficiency and patient care.
- Improve work–life balance issues by proper scheduling, offering flexible work arrangements, and focusing initiatives to boost employee wellness.
- Create a safe, inclusive, and supportive work environment where everyone feels heard and supported in their role.
- Collect regular feedback via employee satisfaction surveys to understand the areas to address. Also, implement a feedback system where constructive feedbacks are provided to your pharmacists are regular intervals.
Support continuing education programs. You can conduct skill enhancement training, employee engagement programs, certifications, mentorship, and coaching programs to upskill them.
- Have an adequate workforce to work in different shifts to reduce the workload. Also, consider hiring other allied health professionals like pharmacy technicians to support the pharmacists.
- Outline a transparent career progression pathway where the employees know the key performance indicators measured for career progression.
- Create a comprehensive compensation package that includes additional benefits such as paid time off, retirement plans, health insurance, etc along with salary.
- Have a proper rewards and recognition system where employees are rewarded with incentives based on their performance.
Licensed pharmacist qualifications in New York
The eligibility conditions to verify while hiring a new pharmacist to your healthcare facility can be found in the New York State Education Board’s documentation.
- Educational requirement: Bachelor’s degree or higher from a pharmacy program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
- Examination requirement: Pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and Multi-State Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE) within 5 years
Experience requirement: Internship experience in a pharmacy under the supervision of an experienced pharmacist is mandatory for newly graduated pharmacists to work in New York.
If the pharmacist has a license issued by another state, an application along with academic transcripts, application fee, and NAPLEX exam score (if already taken) needs to be submitted. The applicant also needs to pass the MPJE examination to become a licensed pharmacist in New York.
How does employer branding help attract top pharmacists?
In the current pharmacist staffing market, it is essential to develop a strong employer brand to attract top pharmacists to your facility. This can be developed by building strong employer-employee relationships with the current staff. Fostering a strong company culture along with implementing policies to increase the job satisfaction level can help build a strong employer brand. Some efforts to consider building an employer brand include focusing on framing a comprehensive compensation and benefits package, ensuring good work-life balance, cultivating diversity and inclusiveness, acting upon the feedback received from current staff, and providing professional development opportunities. Adding the perks of working in your facility along with the detailed job description while advertising the job openings can attract top talented pharmacists. Enhancing the social media presence and employee advocacy initiatives by promoting testimonials and referrals can improve the facility’s brand.
How staffing agencies can play a significant role in pharmacist hiring and retention
Staffing agencies can help you source and hire pharmacists for your facility by analyzing your job requirements. When the hired pharmacists are both culturally and functionally fit for the job role, it is easy to retain them for the long term. There is a considerably high chance for newly hired pharmacists to leave the workforce due to stringent compliance challenges.
With experienced pharmacy recruitment agencies, facilities can hire pharmacists for contract and full-time roles as per their requirements, following a full compliance verification process. Staffing agencies can also provide insight into the pharmacist market demand, regulatory guidelines, etc., which can aid you in making informed decisions. Moreover, in case of peak patient visit seasons, facilities can leverage pharmacy recruitment agencies for temporary staffing solutions with minimal risks.
However, a challenge with most of these traditional staffing agencies is their pricing model, where a significant portion of the bill rate consists of huge markup fees. This ultimately leads to your pharmacists getting underpaid. But fret not! MedSquirrels has got the solution for this.
We have a staffing platform that works on a unique pricing model that is fully transparent, where you just pay a flat license fee along with your hired pharmacists’ payroll cost.
Thereby, we ensure that your pharmacists are getting paid above industry standards.
Conclusion
MedSquirrels is a medical staffing solutions platform leveraging technology to simplify the processes to hire pharmacists. With our all-in-one staffing platform, transparent flat fee pricing, and expert healthcare recruiters, we can fulfill both your full-time and contract pharmacist hiring requirements. Moreover, we provide EOR (Employer of Record) services to hire pharmacists and manage their payroll, HR, and administrative tasks via our Orange and Purple Plans while supporting permanent pharmacist recruitment with our Blue plan. Book a demo today to see our staffing platform in action!
